The Trouble with love
by frosteddragon
Summary: When a certain lazy shinobi breaks her heart Naruko runs off to train outside the village with Jiraiya hoping it helps her get over it, which works till she has to come back and face the drama that will unfold. Fem!Naruto Naru/Shika.
1. Chapter 1

NaruShika

As Jiraiya walked along the dirt road he could almost see the large gates of Konoha, a small smile on his face. It has been almost four years since he had left with Naruko to begin her training, he was used to leaving for long periods of time for his spy network but he knew that she had missed the village. ' _Speaking of Naruko'_ he looked to his right at her. She has changed a lot in four years, her sun blond hair that just went past her shoulders had grown out and now was bellow her lower back and kept up in two ponytails with her bangs framing her face. She had lost the baby fat, her face becoming more defined, her eyes were still the same bright blue and the whisker marks on her cheeks had darkened slightly she was also taller now standing at 5'6.

She wore a black and burnt orange jacket (Like Naruto's in Shippuden) over a black tee shirt, her pants were black ninja pants with dark blue shinobi sandals and her weapon pouch on her right leg. Getting her to get rid of the bright orange jumpsuit was a pain and she refused to give up orange altogether but Jiraiya managed to get her to wear a burnt orange instead of the bight 'HEY COME ATTACK ME' orange she use to wear.

Seeing the look on her face Jiraiya could tell that she was worried about coming back to the village ' _She's changed a lot in four years, she grown into a wonderful young women. If only she would tell me what's wrong'_ he thought.

"So Naruko are you exited to be back?" he asked watching her face for any hint as to how she was feeling, Naruko smiled trying to hide how nervous she was about returning to Konoha "I can't wait to get back I've missed everyone" She said looking up at Jiraiya smiling but as they drew closer to the village gates she started to slow down. Noticing this Jiraiya put a hand on her shoulder giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm always here when you're ready to talk kid" he said looking up at Jiraiya, Naruko gave him a small almost sad smile before she turned her head away to look at the ground.

"I know Ero-sannin" her voice was low before she turned to look at him again smiling brightly "Come on let's get back I can't wait to see Baa-Chan" She said her voice loud again as she grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the gate. As she dragged him Jiraiya couldn't help but think of the day that she had asked to come with him to train.

 _ **..::Flashback::..**_

 _I had just finished packing my bags and was headed to the gate of Konoha ready to leave when I had heard someone calling to me "Hey! Ero-sannin Wait up!" I knew who it was before I even turned around, once she stopped in front of me panting trying to catch her breath, she had her head down so I couldn't see her face. "You didn't think you could leave without me did you? You promised to train me remember" she said looking up at me that's when I noticed two things, one she had a backpack on and looked ready to leave the village, two her eyes where slightly red and puffy like she had been crying._

" _What makes you think Tsunade would let you come with me? Hell what make you think I would let you come with me?" I asked purposely not asking her why she was crying, knowing she would just clam up and change the subject. If I want to know I'll have to wait for the right time to ask her._

" _I can and will come because one I already asked Tsunade and she said it fine and two you PROMISED you would train me, so either you let me come or I'll just follow you" she said giving me a smug look, Damn it. We both stayed like that for a minute just staring, waiting till her eyes started to tear up her lips forming a pout "Please Ero-sannin, please let me come with you" She said, well more like begged. That did it, Naruko NEVER begs she asks or demands but never ever begs._

" _Ok kid, you can come. Let's get going" I said putting my hand on her back as I turned around giving her a slight push forward, once we started walking she reached up to her face to wipe her eyes, she gripped the strap of her pack and stared at the ground as we walked. I looked down at her and sighed wondering what happened that made her want to come with me, for the past three days she's been trying to keep me from leaving then all of a sudden she want to come with me._

 _As we left the gates of Konoha Naruko looked up at me "So where are we going Ero-sannin?" she asked her head tilted to the side a little, I couldn't help but smile at how adorable she looked doing that. "Well, first were headed to….."_

 _ **..::Flashback::..**_

Jiraiya was pulled out of his thoughts when Naruko had slowed down, he looked up to see the gates right in front of them ' _Home sweet home'_ he thought looking over he noticed that Naruko had stopped walking and was just looking forward past the gates and into Konoha. Putting a hand on her shoulder again Jiraiya gave her a small push to get her walking again, nodding at the ninja that were guarding that gate as they pasted and into the village. Once in the village they both took to the roofs and headed straight for Hokage tower.

 _ **.:.:.:.:. what's this? A page brake? Yep!.:.:.:.:.:.**_

Once they both made it to the tower before they could go inside the office the bumped into Shizune well Naruko bumped into her making her drop the papers she was holding. "Oh, I'm so sorry Shizune I didn't see you there" Naruko said rubbing the back of her head as she got up before holding out her hand to help Shizune up as well, after Shizune had dusted herself off and picked up the papers that she had drop she finally looked up at who she had bumped into. Looking up she saw a head of long bright blonde hair and a big smile.

"Naruko!" she yelled before she grabbed said girl in a crushing hug

"When did you get back? How have you been? Why didn't you send any letters?" She asked as she continued to squeeze the life out of the poor girl.

"Shizune…can't…breath…..pervy sage…help" Naruko said as she tried to turn her head to see Jiraiya with little luck as her head was being mushed into Shizune's chest. "Oh sorry, sorry I'm just surprised to see you" She said as she let go of Naruko and looking over her shoulder to Jiraiya who had a tick mark on his forehead at being called pervy sage again ' _I thought I finally got her to stop calling me that'_ he thought looking up at Shizune as she walked around Naruko to give him a quick hug.

"It's good to see you two again" She said then motioned to the door they were about to go in before they bumped into her "You two can go inside I'm sure Tsunade will be happy to see that your back"

"Thanks Shizune" said Naruko as both her and Jiraiya went into the room. Once they were in the room with the door closed they both stopped as the others in the room froze ' _Shizune forgot to mention that Tsunade was in the middle of a….mission report?'_ Jiraiya thought, in the room with Tsunade was team 7 in the middle of what looked like a mission report till they walked in and everyone froze.

"Nar…Naruko?" came a voice looking over Naruko saw that it was Sakura, Kakashi, Sai and Sasuke both looked just as stunned to see her though "Hey Sakura-chan, Sasuke, Sai, Kakashi-sensei what's up?" Naruko said waving at them before turning to a shocked Tsunade sitting behind her desk with her eyes wide and her mouth open. "Hey Baa-chan! We're back" she said then was tackled into a hug by Sakura.

As Naruko was hugged by Sakura, Sasuke, Sai and Kakashi walked over to them smiling and welcoming her back. Tsunade smiled at the reunion then looked over to Jiraiya who had walked over to her shaking his head at the others.

"Welcome back Jiraiya how was your trip? I loved reading about it in the letters you sent me, oh right you never sent any letters" Tsunade spoke sickly sweet at first, by the end she was standing with hands on her desk as she was leaning over it and glaring at the white haired Sannin, you could feel the KI (Killing Intent) as Jiraiya gave her a nervous smile rubbing the back of his neck while backing away from the enraged woman.

"Well you see…..the reason I didn't send any letters was….what happened was…." Jiraiya stumbled over his words while Tsunade looked ready to jump over her desk and at the frightened man.

Naruko had felt the KI just like the others in the room who all turned to look at the two Sannin, "Well he's a goner" Sasuke mumbled as they all watched waiting for the slug Sannin to attack the toad Sannin, Naruko just glared at him before she ran around the desk and threw her arms around Tsunade "Baa-chan!" she exclaimed happily stopping her from murdering Jiraiya.

Turning so she could hug the blonde girl back, a loving smile on her face and the KI from before gone "Hey brat, I'm glad your back" Tsunade said as she released the girl from her hug "I'm glad to be back" she said but everyone could see the slight strain behind her smile as she said it. "How have you been Baa-chan? What did I miss while I was gone?" Naruko asked as she walked back around the blonde Hokage's desk and sat in a chair, but before Tsunade could say a word Sakura had sat down in the chair next to Naruko and started talking about everything that had happened while she was away.

Sakura talked about everything from how they were all chunin now and missions they would go on to the latest gossip in the village like who was dating who and what not while skillfully keeping a certain brow haired lazy jounin out of anything she said which didn't go unnoticed by Jiraiya or the others.

As Sakura went on and on Jiraiya set two scrolls on Tsunade's desk for her to read them he pushed Kakashi, Sasuke and Sai out of the office ignoring their protests before going back to get Sakura, after trying to get her attention and failing he settled for hauling the kunoichi (I think that's how you spelling?) over his shoulder making Naruko laugh at the squeak she made before being tossed out the door "You better meet up with everyone later or I'll hunt you down!" Sakura yelled at Naruko before the door was closed in her face.

Both Jiraiya and Naruko turned to Tsunade when they heard her gasp and saw the look of shock on her face at what she was reading "Hey Baa-chan what are you reading?" Naruko asked, when she didn't get an answer from her Naruko walked around her to look over her shoulder at what she was reading. Naruko made an 'ahhh' sound when she saw what it was one scroll was from hidden mist village saying that she past the jounin exams and the other was her stats as a ninja and all the mission she's been on in the past four years that she's been gone.

"Jiraiya are these right?" Tsunade asked not really believing that Konoha's dead last, number one knuckle headed ninja had managed to not only successfully complete all these mission but also surpass all the other rookie nine, plus Gai's team. Well almost all of them Neji and shikamaru were jounin now too.

"Of course, there right, god Baa-chan I thought you had more faith in me than that" Naruko said in a deadpan tone her arms crossed and a small pout before Jiraiya could answer her. "I know Naruko I'm sorry I just didn't think you'd learn this fast that's all" Tsunade said putting down the scrolls then resting her elbows on the desk and lacing her fingers together resting her chin on her hands. "Now based on what I'm reading I think you're ready" Tsunade said a smirk on her face.

"Ready for what?" Naruko asked cautiously not really liking the look on her face. "To become an ANBU, that is if you want to" Tsunade said she really believed that Naruko was ready for this based on everything she had accomplished while she was training with Jiraiya.

"You really think I'm ready to become an ANBU." Naruko said jumping up and down a huge smile on her face, she had always wanted to be an ANBU (her dream is still to become Hokage but you can have more than one dream) Jiraiya laughed at his student's actions, he put a hand on her head to keep her from bouncing again while he ruffled her hair "of course we think you're ready" Jiraiya said a proud smile on his face as he watched the girl he thought of as his granddaughter's face light up.

Tsunade then left as Naruko calmed down and sat in the chair again with Jiraiya standing behind her, they waiting about five minutes before Tsunade came back holding two boxes, the first one she set on her desk and the second one she handed to Naruko who gave her a questioning look.

"Well, go on open it" Tsunade said shaking her head at the girl as she sat on the edge of her desk.

Opening the box Naruko looked inside to see an ANBU outfit and her smile came back as she pulled it out. "Go on and try it on" Jiraiya said pointing over to a door, Nodding her head Naruko got up and took the box with her to change into her new ANBU gear.

The two Sannin waited a few minutes before Naruko came out wearing black ninja pants and a black sleeveless turtleneck shirt, a grey vest and black gloves with grey arm guards, tall black shinobi sandals with bandages around her right leg and her weapons pouch.

"So, how does it fit?" Tsunade asked as Naruko came back out to stand in front of the two Sannin "Great!" Naruko said smile never leaving her face, Tsunade grabbed the other box off of her desk as Jiraiya put his hand on Naruko's shoulder and made her sit back down in the chair.

"Now for your ANBU tattoo" Tsunade said as she pulled the ink and needle out of the box her smile turned into a grimace, she hated needles.

"Yeah, tattoo right…" Naruko said swallowing, Jiraiyas hand still on her shoulder keeping her grounded in her chair. "You ready brat?" Tsunade said once she was finished getting everything ready, nodding her head Naruko gave the blonde Hokage a small smile, she really does NOT like needles. After getting the nod from the girl Tsunade started.

… **.:::::::Look! Another break line!::::::::…..**

Thirty minutes later the blonde Kunoichi was walking out the Hokage tower a smile on her face, all of her new ANBU gear in a bag over her shoulder and thanks to kyuubi's power the redness and swelling in her arm has already gone down a lot, her jacket was back on hiding her tattoo from everyone. Walking through Konoha on her way to ichiraku ramen Naruko thought to herself how much she had missed Konoha, she didn't relies how much she missed it till she stepped through the gates.

Once a familiar ramen stand was in sight Naruko picked up speed to get to it, when she got to it she saw some of her friends sitting on two of the bar stools Kiba Inuzkua and Hinata Hyuga her best friends before she left. Smirking Naruko crept up behind Kiba then she put her hand on his shoulder shouting 'BOO!' and started laughing at his scream as he jumped in his set.

"OMG! That was to good" Naruko laughed clutching her sides as the two turned to look at her Kibas hand over his heart his eyes wide, "God Kiba you scream like a girl" Naruko said between laughs.

"Jezz Naruko are you trying to give me a heart attack!" Kiba yelled at her before turning back to is ramen, Hinata however just looked at her with wide eyes "N-naru-chan your b-back" she said just as Kiba realized just WHO had scared him and spit out his mouth full of noddle's before whipping around again yelling "NARUKO!" as he did his eyes wide as well, straitening up Naruko gave them both her bright smile "Hey guys, did you miss me?" she asked them before Hinata could say anything Kiba had jumped out of his set and hugged Naruko.

Once Kiba had let her go Hinata got up to give her friend a hug "When did you get back?" Hinata asked, all three of them siting down on the stools and Naruko ordered a miso ramen for herself before answering.

"Today, came here right after I saw Baa-chan" Naruko was stuffing her face with ramen by the end of her sentence, the other two just smiled at that ' _same old Naruko'_ Kiba thought, once they had finished their noodles with Naruko ordering more saying how much she missed ichiraku ramen on her travels. Kiba and Hinata filled her in on everything she missed both trying not to mention Shikamaru, only them and Sakura knew about what had happened between them before she left with Jiraiya, she knew that both Jiraiya and Tsunade had been worried then and still were sometimes but she never could bring herself to tell them. She might be mad at him but she doesn't want him dead.

 _ **..::FlashBack::..**_

 _Naruko was walking down the street back to her little apartment, she had a big smile on her face she had just finished having dinner with her boyfriend of one-year Shikamaru, it had surprised everyone when the lazy boy had asked out the hyper girl, they had been best friends before they got together._

 _They were both very different but just clicked from day one. Shikamaru was quiet and lazy but very smart, he could keep a level head in any type of problem while Naruko was loud and could never sit still for long, she was easy to rile up and often rash never really thinking about what she's doing till it's done but she's smarter than people give her credit for._

 _Naruko was half way home when she realized that she has left her wallet at his place, she thought about leaving it till tomorrow but knowing her she would forget it till she really needed it and couldn't find it. So, she turned around and started back to Shika's house it was just starting to get dark out and it shouldn't take long for her to get it and head back home again. Five minutes later she found herself back at Shikamaru's, she walked into his house thinking about where she set her wallet down, not having to knock as Shika gave her a key to his house two months ago she walked down the hall going to his bedroom._

 _Once she opened the door she froze a gasp escaping her lips at what she saw, Shikamaru was standing by the wall kissing a girl –WHO WAS NOT HER- he had his back on the wall, his hands on her hips. Her hands were tangled in his hair, they both jumped at her gasp breaking apart Shikamaru looked over the girls shoulder at the door and a look of horror crossed his face as he saw who was standing there. Naruko his girlfriend who he has been with for one year and who he loves, the girl had turned to look at who saw them but Naruko didn't recognize her._

 _Shikamaru tried to push the girl away from him and explain himself to Naruko, but before he could she had already turned around and bolted home as fast as she could. Naruko could barely see where she was going because of the tears in her eyes, she tried to wipe them away but more just filled her eyes and ran down her face. She thought she heard someone call her name but she ignored it and just kept running until she made it back to her small apartment._

 _After a few minutes of crying to herself on her bed Naruko heard someone knock at her door, at first she was just going to ignore them thinking it might be Shikamaru until she heard a voice call her from the other side "Naruko? Are you ok? Come on we know you're in there please open the door, it's just me and Sakura" The voice belonged to Hinata, Hinata and Sakura had been getting closer since the chunnin exams._

 _It took a second but Naruko did get up and let the two girls inside, once inside both Sakura and Hinata started asking her whats wrongs and who they should beat up(Sakura) so Naruko told them what just happened with Shikamaru. Both girls were extremely mad at Shikamaru and very confused because he really doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would do something like that It would be to 'troublesome' to him._

 _The three girls talked for the whole night doing what they could to keep Narukos mind off of what happened when Naruko decided to leave the village with Jiraiya, she told the other two about it and they agreed that it would be good for her so, now all she had to do was pack her bag and go talk to Tsunade about it._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- Hey guys! Sorry for a shorter chapter this time, I'm just starting college so between that my horseback riding and figure skate training I don't get as much time to write as I'd like so updates maybe be a bit slow sometimes but I will always try my best to get new chapters up as long as you guys still like to read them! the faster I get a new chapter up the shorter it will be though but I'll always try to make them more than 1,000 words!**

 **Anyway! please enjoy this chapter hopefully I'll get the next one out soonish**

 **...:::::::ENJOY THE STORY::::::...**

NaruShika Chapter 2

 _ **Shikamarus POV.**_

 _After Naruko and I had finished dinner at my house which my mom had cooked, we went back to my room for a few hours till she would leave for the night. We had been dating for about a year now and I don't think I've ever been happier even though I don't really show it -that would be to troublesome- Naruko just plopped down onto my bed and made herself comfortable while I sat down on it resting my back against the wall at the top of my bed, she wiggled her way up till her head was laying in my lap and I started to run my fingers through her shoulder length hair._

 _ **========LINE BREAK=======**_

 _We stayed in my room for a few hours, manly talking…. Well Naru did most of the talking but it's fine because I love listening to her talk almost as much as I love cloud watching. I could tell she was getting tired, she's been working extra hard since she started training with the sannin Jiraiya I wish she could stay the night with me but my mother would never let me live it down. So, I decided to call it a night and let her get some sleep, plus I'm tired too, after we said goodbye and she went home I walked back into my room where I took a quick shower and changed for bed._

 _What I didn't expect was for some girl to come into my room, she was about a year older than me and I had been on a mission with her before but why she was at my house and in my room, I have no idea._

" _Can I help you?" I asked her, my tone flat as a gave her a slight glare, she didn't even knock What if I was still changing?_

" _Hey Shika, I came by to give you this mission scroll. We'll be going on a mission together again tomorrow" She said with a flirty smile on her face that I really didn't like the look of._

" _Why didn't the Hokage just send it to me by bird? I'm sure it would have been just as fast" I said as I walked up to grab the scroll from her hand._

" _Because I haven't been able to see you since our last mission, so I thought I'd bring it to you. I was headed this way anyway" She said brushing her hand against mine as I grab the scroll. 'Lier' I say in my head its late and she lives on the other side of the village then me, which I only know because she talked nonstop on that mission._

" _Well you'll see me tomorrow, plus its late you should head home and get some sleep since we have a mission tomorrow." I tell her trying to get her to live "Thanks for the scroll" I say as an afterthought and then turned around to put it on my dresser to look at once she left, but instead of hearing her leave my room I heard her step closer to me. I turned around to ask her why she was still here when she finished delivering the scroll to me, my eyes widened when I saw how close to me she was, I didn't know she got that close when my back was turned, I took a step back to try and put some space between us when my back hit the wall and before I could do anything she had pressed her lips to mine._

 _I froze for a second with my eyes wide and as I went to push her away from me I heard a gasp come from the door of my bedroom, looking over I felt myself freeze again in horror as I saw Naruko standing there with pure hurt on her face, I snapped myself out of my shocked state once again when I saw her turn to run off with tears in her eyes. But by the time I got away and could try and follow her she was already out of sight, I was sure she would head to her apartment and I thought of following her but decided to try talking to her before my mission tomorrow morning, it would give both of us a little time to wrap our heads around what just happened. It would be troublesome getting up that early but I would gladly do it for her._

… _ **:::Present Day:::…**_

After I had gone back to my room that night I had slightly violently made the other girl leave my room and made sure she knew to leave me alone from now on, and I still haven't seen her since that last mission we took together.

But When I got up that morning to go and talk to Naruko I found that she wasn't in her apartment and I couldn't find her anywhere! When I got back from that mission lady Tsunade told me that she had left the village with lord Jiraiya and that she didn't know when she would be back.

Life has kind of sucked for me while I waited for her to come back, for the first two years Hinata and Sakura both seemed to hate me so I assumed that they knew about what had happened but I finally managed to get them to listen to me about what happened that night.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I saw that I was outside the Hokage tower, 'Damn I must have been deep in thought to not notice that I was already here' I thought "how troublesome" I mumbled as I began to head to lady Tsunades office, once in Tsunades office he gave her a quick mission report from the mission he finished last night. Technically he was supposed to hand it in last night but it was so late that he just went to bed instead.

As I left the Hokage tower I couldn't help but wonder about lady Tsunade, she seemed oddly happy today and I can't figure out why…. 'Troublesome hokage' I thought as I walked down the street with my hands in my pockets I was headed to Tenten's family weapons shop for some new kunai I need to stock up again before my next mission. But as I passed by Ichirakus Ramen I froze in my tracks as I heard someone inside laughing. I know that laugh, I would know that laugh anywhere 'Naruko' was the only thing in my head now.

'She's back?! Naruko is back!' I turned to face the ramen stand I slowly raised my hand to part the sheet in front of the stand, the only thing between me and her 'I hope she will let me explain what happened' I thought as I finally saw her the girl I'm in love with but haven't seen in almost four years! That's a long time for someone to be gone and god have I missed her, even if I won't say so to others. Now I just have to hope that she forgave me at all 'This will be troublesome' I sigh. Naruko doesn't notice me at first because she's got Kiba in a headlock and is laughing so loud she wouldn't have heard me yet, but Hinata does notice pretty fast, as her eyes lock with mine the smile slips off her face and a troubled expression takes over.

I know Hinata is on my side since I managed to tell her and Sakura the whole story about what happened they don't hate me anymore, her eyes dart to Naruko for a split second before her eyes were on me again. Before I could say anything Hinata slipped out of her seat while Naruko and Kiba were too busy with each other to notice her leave, grabbing my arm Hinata pulled me out of the ramen stand. I let her lead me around the corner and out of sight, I have a pretty good idea what she's going to say and to be honest she's probably right.

I should have thought what I was going to do and what I was going to say to her before I just walked up to her in public after everything that happened all those years ago.

As Hinata opened her mouth to speak I interrupted her and spoke first "I know what you're going to say Hinata, that it's a bad idea to just show up and try to talk to Naruko in public so soon and I should think this threw more" I said giving her a look that just screamed troublesome.

"Right" Hinata smiled at me not even shocked "I'll talk to her tonight in private, then tomorrow you can try and get her alone and talk to her. And maybe she won't try and kill you….. just maim you a bit" She said smirking at the last part, I gulp even if Naruko forgives me she's still going to be pissed and want to get back at me for the heartbreak she went through while she was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**NaruShika chapter 3**

 **Third person POV.**

After Hinata had slipped back into her set, once Shikamaru had left the three friends finished catching up before they went their separate ways for the and Hinata both had a team meeting to get to, and Naruko wanted to get some training of her own done in her new ANBU gear. But, before parting, Hinata told Naruko that she would be coming over later tonight for a girl's night with Sakura, to which she responded by saying she couldn't wait. Then the blonde ran off in the direction of training ground zero, a special one for ANBU that Jiraiya had told her about, while Kiba and Hinata went on their way to training ground 8 to meet with their team.

When Naruko near the edge of training ground zero, she stopped for a moment to check for chakra signatures and then made her way to the tree line of the clearing once she knew it was empty. Though she was slightly surprised to see that there were no other ANBU training here but guessed they might train out of their ANBU gear too, so they might be in other training grounds if they were in at the moment.

Stopping on a tree branch she quickly removed her jacket to reveal her ANBU shirt and vest that she had on underneath it, then she pulled out a sealing scroll and from it took out her gloves, arm guards and her mask to put on.

' _Got to get used to fighting in this new gear'_ she thought as she finished securing her mask on her face then jumped down into the clearing to train.

 **==================LINEEEEE BREAKKKKKKKKKK=================**

Four hours later Naruko had finally stopped, an hour into her training another ANBU had shown up but left pretty quick after seeing her training, though she didn't get a look at his mask she could recognize the chakra as her former sensei Kakashi.

"Hey!" She heard a shout come from behind her, as she turned around to face the voice it spoke again "How long have you been out here kid?" the voice now known as Jiraiya said as he dropped to the ground near her. A small tick mark appeared on her forehead at being called a kid by him again ' _Should have known it was ero-sannin when I couldn't sense his chakra right away'_ Naruko thought as she pouted before answering him.

"Just about four hours, why?" she replied wondering if he had a reason for coming to find her or if he was just bored….again.

"It's your first day back Gaki! You should be out catching up with your friends not out here training you can do that tomorrow." Jiraiya yelled at her sweat dropping ' _Sometimes this kid just doesn't know how to stop and relax'_ he thought as Naruko stood there with one of her hands on the back of her neck and a smile on her face after being scolded for training instead of seeing her friends.

"I had lunch with Hinata and Kiba before coming here though!" She said in a slight whine hoping that he wouldn't drag her from the training grounds again, which he's had to do before when she wouldn't stop trying to learn a new move.

"Well you should head home, I felt two chakra signatures headed that way on my way to find you," Jiraiya said as he patted her on the head, Naruko gave him a big smile then started to run off. "That's probably Hinata and Sakura, I'll see you later Ero-sannin!" she yelled as she made her way back to the edge of the clearing and into the trees.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Jiraiya yelled after her with a tick mark on his head, but it was too late she was already gone from sight. 'Sigh' ' _That kid will be the death of me one day'_ he thought with a shake of his head and a small smile before he turned and jumped into the trees himself.

 **=================BBBBRRRREEEEAAAAKKKK===================**

About halfway home Naruko felt Kakashi's chakra again and decided to take a quick detour to ask him about earlier. ' _Hinata and Sakura won't mind if I'm a bit longer, they know where my spear key is anyway'_ Naruko thought as she made a quick turn and then stopped in front of a small restaurant that she's only been to once before she left the village.

Once she entered, she looked around for a moment before spotting the person she was looking for, walking over she sat down with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Kashi-Sensei! Mind if I join you for a bit?" she exclaimed as she sat down, then asking if it was ok even though she had no plans to move anyway. Sweat dropping at the fact that Naruko asked if she could sit AFTER she already did Kakashi just gave her a quick eye smile.

"Mahh, Naruko good to see you back in the village, is there something you wanted to talk about?" Kakashi greeted her first as he didn't get a chance earlier in the Hokage Tower before he was pushed out by Sakura along with Sasuke before asking why she was here. ' _Is she here about the training grounds earlier? There's no way she could tell that was me. I'm sure I left before she could get a read on my chakra'_ Kakashi thought thinking of why she might want to talk to him ' _well, it could just be because she didn't get a chance to say hello to me in the tower either really'_ he guessed…. Till she started talking again.

"Well, I wanted to ask why you didn't come say hi to me in the training grounds earlier? We could have even had a spar!" She said her voice getting more excited at the end and the thought of sparing with her old teacher and showing him what she can do now.

"Wha…but how did? How did you know that was me? I wasn't there long enough for you to get a read on my chakra or see me" Kakashi said stuttering a bit at first his eye a little wider before he collected himself again at the end. Naruko gave him a smirk as she leaned forward onto the table before answering his question ' _wow I don't think I've ever seen Kakashi sputter like that before!'_ She thought laughing in her head while still smirking on the outside.

"Wow Sensei, I'm hurt that you don't seem to think I improved while I was away. Did you think I just spent my time with Ero-Sannin sitting around?" she said her voice starting of slightly sarcastic, her face had a more deadpan look on it by the end and Kakashi sweat dropped the way she was talking and looking at him now just screamed 'Idiot' at him.

Sighing, Kakashi just looked at her for a moment. After a bit, he started to speak again.

"Well, first I was surprised when I realized it was you under that mask on the training grounds, then I wanted to go talk to lady Tsunade about you becoming an ANBU right after you got back. I was hoping you wouldn't have realized it was me, but you've grown more than I thought you would while you were away" Kakashi had his famous eye smile on while he spoke. Kakashi's voice becoming a little softer at the end but Naruko didn't notice the change in his tone before he stopped talking and just looked at her with a small smile on his face.

"Maybe tomorrow we can spar some, and I can show you just how much I've learned while I was away! It would be fun to kick your ass!" Naruko exclaimed with a big grin on her face waiting for him to respond to her challenge, "Mah, mah Naruko, you may have learned a lot but don't get ahead of yourself there, you are still just my cute little student." He said with an eye smile knowing that the last thing would get under her skin, he missed her overreactions to little things like that, even though he would never admit it out loud.

With a tick mark appearing on her forehead, Naruko focused a small glare on her old sensei for a minute before a smirk appeared on her face that Kakashi wasn't expecting to see. Then she started to stand to leave knowing that she's made Hinata and Sakura wait long enough and soon they would come looking for her, and she didn't want that.

"Well, let's find out just who would win then. Meet me tomorrow at 8 am at our old team meeting place, and we'll have a spar and find out!" Narukos voice was challenging as she stood by the table and held out her hand waiting for him to accepted before she walked off.

"Ok then, we'll spar and find out. But don't get to upset when you lose" Kakashi said shaking her hand with his eye small then watching as she walked away from the table and out of the building. Sighing after she left Kakashi turned back around in his seat and raised his hand to signal a waitress over to his table.

"Can I have a bottle of sake please?" He ordered slumping back into his seat a little after the waitress took his order and walked away _'I'm going to have to talk to Jiraiya about what I just got myself into'_ he thought, happy to see his sake get put on his table and not wasting anytime drinking it.

 **====================BREAKLINE PEOPLES=====================**

Once Naruko made it out of the small restaurant, she jumped onto the rooftops and started making her way home at a run. She could feel her two friend's chakra signatures in her apartment and could tell by the feel of them that Sakura was getting impatient while Hinata was much more patient while waiting for her to get there.

It didn't take long for her to get home at the pace she was going while running on the rooftops since she had gotten faster while she was away from the village training. She landed on her balcony, and she wasn't even out of breath yet! She could see both of the two girls through the glass door as they sat at her small kitchen table waiting, Sakura was tapping her foot impatiently, and Hinata was sipping on some tea. They had yet to notice her, and she felt kind of proud that Hinata couldn't sense her even though she was so close to them.

She slipped into her apartment quietly; she wanted to see how long it would take them to notice that she was there. She sat on her bed which was just out of both of there sight, because of the way they had the chairs that they were sitting in angled. She wasn't trying to hide her chakra signature, but she got more used to keeping it mostly hidden through her training, so it was almost instinct to keep it hidden now.

"If she doesn't show up soon I'm going to go find her and kick her upside the head for being late!" That was Sakura's voice, Naruko decided to pay more attention to what they were saying, but it mainly just sounded like she was mad at being kept waiting which was nothing new.

"Calm down Sakura, I told you, I didn't give Naruko a time to be here I just told her that we would be over later tonight so be more patient. I'm sure she'll be here soon" Hinata ever the level-headed peacekeeper she is said, and it sounded like this wasn't the first time she had to tell Sakura that either based on the sigh the accompanied her words.

By the slightly heavy silence that followed Naruko wondered what they were talking about before she showed up here and was kind of hoping that it would be brought up again before she let them know she was here or they noticed her sitting right behind them.

"THAT'S IT!" Sakura exclaimed as she stood up suddenly pushing her chair back.

"I'm going to go find her! I'm going to die waiting here any longer" She said turning around, as she turned she caught a glimpse of blonde hair in the corner of her eye, she gasped and turned the rest of the way quickly to see Naruko sitting there with a grin on her face and waving her hand at them. Hinata turned to see what made Sakura react like that when she also caught a glimpse of Naruko, her eyes just widened, and her mouth opened.

"Naruko! When did you get there!?" Hinata said as she stood up asking and put her cup in the sink before moving over the bed to sit next to her, Hinata sat down while Sakura picked up her chair to sit back down still staring at her wondering when she got there.

"Well, I've been here for about 15mins" she smirked, "I was waiting to see when you guys would notice me" she finished, and Sakura rolled her eyes at her friend.

"of course, you would do that Naruko! You know a normal person would have come in through the front door and not sat around like a stalker watching people" Sakura exclaimed with a sigh but had a small smile on her face.

Naruko laughed at Sakura "Good thing I'm not normal! Being normal sounds boring" She said her voice high as she got her self to stop laughing and a huge smile on her face, she had missed her friends, and she didn't know how much till she saw them again.

After that the tree girls happily started chatting with each other and gossiping together, Naruko made some fresh tea and snacks as they talked about what Sakura told Naruko in the Hokage office earlier and anything she didn't know about yet. Sakura and Hinata both found ways to sneak Shikamaru's name into their conversations now and then to try and find out how she's feeling about him now, after being away from him for so long. After learning about what had really happened that night, they both want to get the two back together but aren't sure how to go about it yet.

As the night went on the three slowly ran out of things to talk about after Naruko had told them all about her travels across the elemental nations, they all fell asleep around four o'clock in the morning with plans to sleep in the next day.

 **========================SLEEP BREAK=======================**

Sleeping in that morning was going great till Sakura was rudely woken by someone knocking on Narukos front door, groaning as she sat up Sakura blindly reached over to smack Naruto's head.

"Naruuuuuuuuu, wake up and answer your door!" She wined and flopped back down onto her back with her arm thrown over her eyes trying to block out the morning sun that managed to make it through the blinds on her friend's window.

But Naruko didn't budge from her spot and just rolled over with a wave of her hand. Hinata was the next to sit up, as she rubbed her eyes she looked from her sleeping friend to the door that was still being knocked on. Sighing she got to her feet to answer the door knowing that it would be almost impossible to wake Naruko at the moment. At the door to her surprise was Sasuke, she then told herself that seeing Sasuke here shouldn't be a surprise since she was Naruko and Sakuras teammate.

"Is the dobe awake yet? And is Sakura here as well?" Sasuke asked, his voice the same monotone as always.

"they're both here, but they're both asleep right now as well. We stayed up pretty late last night" Hinata said as she finally fully woke up, she opened the door wider so Sasuke could see Sakura asleep on the futon that had been pulled out for the two to sleep on while Naruko was just out of sight of the door sleeping on her bed.

With a sigh, Sasuke walked past Hinata, who simply stepped to the side to let him in and walked up to his two sleeping teammates. "OI, Sakura, dobe. Wake up we have team training to do" he said as he kicked Sakura in the side gently and kicked Naruko in the side not so gently. At hearing Sasuke's voice, Sakura sat up once again and looked up at him.

"No one told me we had training today." She said as she stood up and started to put away the futon with Hinata

"Well, that's because you shoved everyone out of the Hokages office yesterday then ran off squealing "Narukos back!" Before Kakashi could tell us about it" He said with sarcasm heavy in his voice when he quoted her. Sakura flushed a little remembering that she had done just that, but she was just excited that she was back and went to tell Ino about her return.

"hehe, sorry about that Sasuke-Kun," She said sheepishly as they both looked over to Naruko who had yet to wake up.

"Stupid dobe" Sasuke muttered as he walked into the small kitchen and filled a cup up with water. Walking back over to the sleeping girl he poured the water onto her face, Sasuke quickly dodged to the side as Naruko shot into a sitting position and threw a punch in his face which he saw coming. This wasn't his first time waking up the stubborn sleeper whether it was on a mission and trying to get her up for training when they were all genin before she left. She only punched him twice before he started preparing for her punch through now its just instinct to dodge, even if it has been a few years since her last saw her.

"Get up, we have training in 30 minutes, and I don't want to be late because you two wanted to sleep in" Sasuke grumbled out as Naruko perked up at the mention of training, completely ignoring the fact that Sasuke had dumped water on her.

Hinata went into the kitchen to make a quick breakfast for everyone while Naruko and Sakura ran around getting ready.

"Would you like something to eat as well Sasuke?" Hinata asked as she made what looked to Sasuke to be a more western breakfast of eggs and bacon with toast. Sasuke said a quick no thank you that he had already eaten this morning before throwing Naruko her kunai pouch that she had been searching for, that was sat beside him on the counter.

After the two girls got dressed in only 10 minutes, they sat down to eat what Hinata had made and put in front of them.

"Hurry up; we're going to be late at this rate," Sasuke said as he tapped his foot waiting by the door, where he had moved to stay out of the two girls way as they both ran into the kitchen to eat.

"Well made if you can to get us earlier then we wouldn't have this problem, would we?" Naruko said as she and Sakura stood up and we to the door by Sasuke to put their shoes on.

"Thanks for the food Hinata, it was great," Sakura said as they ran out the door with Naruko and Sasuke arguing in the background.

"your welcome" Hinata replied with a smile on her face, and the shaking her head at Naruko as she yelled over her shoulder about staying if she liked but to please lock up when she does before she resumed her argument with Sasuke.

 **======================BREAKKKKKKKKKK=====================**

Arriving five minutes late the three stopped in front of Yamato who stood next to Sai. Sasuke looks slightly upset at being late because of his two female teammates, but Naruko didn't seem to have a care in the world as she said good morning to the two males in front of them with Sakura apologizing for being hate.

"I don't know why you guys care that we were five minutes late, Kakashi-sensei isn't even here yet" Naruko exclaimed with a pout mostly aimed at Sasuke who made them wake up and rush through breakfast only for them to get here and have to wait on Kakashi anyway who is always late. You'd think they would have learned by now to either not show up on time or give Kakashi an earlier time, so they weren't waiting so long.

After waiting for another hour where they all did some training of they're own, Naruko and Sai had just started a spar when Kakashi turned up to the training field.

"Sensei you're late!" Sakura yelled at the late jonin, but never really took her eyes off the fight. Her, Sasuke, and Yamato had been watching the two closely trying to get a read on their teammate's new skills before.

"Nice of you to finally show up Kakashi-sensei!" Naruko yelled over her shoulder, never faltering in the fight. They hadn't been fighting long, but Sai already looked to be struggling against the blond kunoichi. With Naruko dodging everything he threw at her, deciding that he couldn't beat her with taijutsu alone he started to attack her with ninjutsu as well.

"Wow, Naruko has really improved with her training from lord Jiraiya hasn't she?" Sakura said with a smile on her face the slowly turned sad; she can see how much Naruko had changed over her time outside of the village in the way she fights and the way she talked last night when she told her and Hinata about her travels. But she's glad she had the chance to go and learn it helped her grow as a person and a ninja and it also gave Sakura the chance to grow in her own ways. Sakura has also come a long way in the two years Narukos been away; Sakura worked hard to become a teammate that can be relied on and not just one that relies on others to save her all the time like she used to and had put all her effort into her training with Lady Tsunade.

Kakashi gave a wave of his hand while looking down at his Icha Icha book but looked up as he heard a grunt and many crashes to see his blonde-haired student being thrown through several trees by one of Sais ink beasts.

Sai straightened his stance as he watched the dust settle waiting to see the blonde laying on the ground, what surprised everyone a bit was that when they could finally see, there was no one to be seen in the small crater Naruko had made with her impact. Sai went to grab a kunai when he felt one at his throat, looking over his shoulder Sai saw the grinning face of his new teammate staring back at him.

"I win," Naruko said happily, a big smile on her face before removing the kunai from the man's neck.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Yamato were surprised that they never noticed her move behind the pale ninja, but Kakashi looked unfazed having noticed her chakra moving in the trees behind Sai. Hiding a small, proud smile behind his book, even though nobody would have seen it under his mask, Kakashi stepped forward and slipped the little orange book into his pouch gave Naruko his usual eye smile.

"Good job Naruko, it looks like you learned a lot during your time away, training with master Jiraiya.

"Thanks' Kakashi-sensei!" The blonde Kunoichi beamed under the praise, then scowled at the man not a second later as he ruffed her hair. As she swatted his hand away with a scowl, though most would say it was more of a pout, Sakura just chuckled at the two as she walked over to Sai and gave him some water to drink.

'Tch' "you may have improved, but have you improved enough to beat me dobe?" Sasuke said as he walked towards his teammate and old sensei with a challenging look in his dark eyes.

"I can soooo kick your butt teme! You won't even know what hit you when I'm done!" Naruko shouted as Kakashi backed away not wanting to be in the middle of a fight between those two.

But before Naruko and Sasuke could get into a fighting stance, Sakura stepped in between them.

"First! Since Kakashi-San was so late, let's go and get some lunch, and then we can come back here and then you two can have your fun and beat the crap out of each other till you both collapse" Sakura said with a smile on her face that told they others this was not a suggestion.

"You can think of it as team bonding since Naruko doesn't know Sai or Yamato that well yet" she added when she saw that Naruko was about to complain anyway.

"Fine but we're getting ramen!" Naruko yelled before taking off in the direction of Ichiraku ramen. With a sigh, the others followed after her but at a much more relaxed pace knowing that the blonde would only be on her second bowl when they got there, and she would probably eat much more after they arrived at the stand.

To say they were surprised when they got to Ichiraku and didn't see the blonde anywhere would be an understatement.

"Hey Ayame, Teuchi. Have you seen Naruko? She should be here already since she ran ahead of us" Sakura was the one to ask the shop owner and his daughter about the missing blonde.

"No, we haven't seen her yet today" Ayame was the one who answered the group as they sat down.

 **==================A FEW MINUTES EARLIER===================**

As Naruko ran down the streets of Konoha, she looked behind her once she realized she probably left the others behind when she took off like that and wasn't surprised when she didn't see them behind her.

"Oops, guess I got a little excited about getting ramen again," She said to herself as she came to a stop in the street. With a sheepish smile and one hand behind her head, shrugging to herself she decided that they would catch up soon and turned to keep heading towards her favorite ramen but at a walk this time.

Before she could walk more than two steps, she was pulled into an alley and out of view of the others on the street that may walk by the mouth of the alley. Naruko let out a small squeak that she would later deny as she felt her back get pushed up against a wall and one hand placed on either side of her head.

Looking up she locked eyes with a pair of chocolate brown eyes, eyes that she has been avoiding since she got back in the village, the eyes of the man that broke her heart and the reason she left Konoha for so long that night. Her eyes widened in her shock and with a slight tremble in her voice she spoke to him for the first time in four years.

"Shikamaru…"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **HEY! I'm back; I promise I'm not abandoning this story.**

 **I'm super sorry this chapter took so long to write! But I've been very busy with college then my laptop broke, so it been hard to find time to write and a laptop/computer to write on.**

 **But I'm here now, and I'm going to try really hard to get the next chapter up a bit faster!**


	4. Chapter 4

**NaruShika Chp.4**

"Shikamaru…." Naruko's voice had a slight tremble in it, Shikamaru had a sad and almost regretful look in his eyes as he stood there with the blonde trapped between him and the brick wall of the alley that he had pulled her into.

"Naru…I" Shikamaru was having trouble getting out the words that she had practiced all night. He had spent the past four years wondering how they're first meeting would go and he did not plan on pulling her into an alley, but he just couldn't wait any longer. Only Naruko Uzumaki could make the laziest ninja in the whole village get so worked up, even his mother had been a little concerned last night when she saw Shikamaru pacing the way he was. It didn't take long for the older female Nara to put two and two together since the last time her son had acted like this was four years ago when a certain blonde kunoichi had left the village.

"Please, Naru give me a chance to talk. To explain myself" Shikamaru spoke quickly, he could tell the blonde was tense and ready to bolt before he had a chance to talk to her and if she got away Shikamaru didn't know if he would get another chance to see her.

Naruko didn't say anything but she did relax her muscles some so Shikamaru took that as a go-ahead from the blonde that she wouldn't run away while he was talking, but that didn't guaranty him a lot of time and he knew that if he said the wrong thing right now he might lose his chance at getting the blonde back at all

Shikamaru relaxed his stance as well and let his arms fall to his side, hoping that if the blonde didn't feel trapped there would be a smaller chance of her trying to run from him. But he didn't step away from where he was standing close to her, needing the closeness to let himself calm down knowing that she's here and real, she's back in the village and not another one of his dreams.

"Well? I don't have a lot of time; my team will start to wonder where I am" Naruko said while averting her eyes and looking to the side when Shikamaru just stood there looking at her, she leaned back into the wall to try and put some space between the two of them even though all she wanted to do was bury her face in his chest and have him hold her again. She just couldn't forget the hurt she felt that night yet no matter how much her heart missed the lazy ninja.

Taking a deep breath Shikamaru finally started to talk "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to see that, I'm sorry that I didn't push the girl away faster, I'm sorry I didn't run after you that night to explain." He started lifting her chin up to look her in the eye when she kept trying to avoid his eyes.

Seeing the tears that had welled up in her eyes broke his heart again, he hated that he is the one to cause her to cry, Naruko has always been strong and didn't cry easily, she had also always felt emotions much stronger than he does

"I know that I hurt you that night, but I promise you I did not kiss that girl, she kissed me, and I tried to push her off, I wanted to chase after you but that damn girl pulled me back and by the time I pulled my hand free you were gone. I want to see you the next day, but you were gone, and I couldn't find you, I searched the whole village, but you were nowhere…..." As he spoke Shikamaru had taken a step closer to the blonde and put his hands on her hips.

Shikamaru felt like he was rambling by this point, as he had spoken his face had gotten closer to Naruko's. Their lips were inches apart and she could feel his breath on her, Shikamaru was about to close the distance between them when Naruko moved so her head ended up resting to his shoulder instead of meeting him in a kiss. Shikamaru gave a small sigh at being denied the kiss he was hoping for he wrapped his arms around her waist instead as she buried her face in the crook of his neck and her arms went around his neck.

Shikamaru held her close to him as he felt his neck getting wet, realizing that she was crying he held onto her tighter and rested his check on her golden blonde hair. He might not have gotten the kiss that it looked like he would get for a minute there, but he didn't want to push her. He could tell that she was mentally and emotionally drained and he was just as happy to be able to hold her again, something that he had missed while she was away.

He knew that it would still be hard and a lot of work to fully regain her trust, but he was willing to put in the work to be with the troublesome blonde that he love's again.

Naruko never showed up at Ichiraku so the other four decided to head back to the training field and hoped that she would be there, if not they would send Sasuke to find her and make sure that she was ok.

What surprised the group was when they got back to the field, there was a sleeping blonde curled up under one of the trees on the far side on the field. Sakura was the first one to get to her and noticed the dried tear stains on her checks.

"Oh, Naruko. What happened when you took off?" Sakura asked as she sat down and pulled the blondes head into her lap, but Naruko never woke up only curling into the pink haired girl that had started to run her fingers through the blonde hair. Kakashi, Sasuke, Sai, and Yamato stood back all concerned for the blonde and trying to figure out what could have happened while they were separated from her.

"Ok, I don't think Naru will be doing anymore fighting at the moment. Sakura you can stay over here with her and if she wakes up see if she'll tell you what's happened" Kakashi said, knowing that not much can get under the blonde's skin to make her upset enough to look like she did now. Getting a nod from Sakura, he turned to the other three males of the team.

"Sai, Sasuke you two can go ahead a do some sparing your selves" Once finished Kakashi pulled out his orange book once again before walking just out of earshot of the two kunoichis on the ground and the two boys that had made their way into the center of the field to start a halfhearted spar, neither of their minds completely in the fight.

As Sakura sat and tried to comfort Naruko as she slept she wondered about what might have happened, she guessed Shikamaru got impatient and found her when she was going to Ichiraku alone. If so then she wants to smack that boy right now, Hinata and her had a small plan to get the two together that would minimize the storm that comes from the two meeting again. Now all the pink haired kunoichi wants to know if it went ok and they are getting back together soon if not now or if it went terrible and Naruko will never trust the lazy man again, Sakura feared that with how Naruko looked it might be the second option.

 **==================Earlier in the alley===================**

 _Naruko had stopped cry a few minutes ago but hasn't picked her head up from where it was tucked into Shikamaru's neck and he was starting to get worried for the blonde, he wondered if she had believed what he had said and was willing to trust him again if only a little bit or not. She could be very hard to read sometimes and was always surprising him when he tried to figure out what she was thinking._

 _When Naruko started to pull away, Shikamaru very reluctantly lets her go but kept his hands resting loosely on her hips not wanting to give up the contacted with her completely just yet._

" _I want to believe you Shika, that cheating would be too troublesome and that what you said was true. That she came on to you and to tried to push her back" Naruko stopped for a moment to wipe at her eyes and finish collecting her thoughts, Shikamaru took it as a good sign that she was still using the nickname she gave him at least. Even though what she was saying didn't sound too good all together._

" _But, I can't get the image of you and her out of my head and it hurts my heart"_

 _Shikamaru's heart started to break again._

" _And I don't want to keep hurting like this when I'm in the village, feeling like I want to leave again" She still hasn't looked at him, and he feels like he wants to cry._

 _He can feel the tears in his eyes, but he can see them in hers as she speaks as well._

" _What can I do? What do I need to do to earn your trust back? I love you Naruko…And I don't want to lose you anymore than I already have" Shikamaru spoke in a quiet breathy tone._

 _Almost like he was afraid that she would run away, and he would never see her again, and at this point, she might._

 _His hands moved from her hips to grip her hands his forehead now resting against hers and his eyes closed._

" _I don't know. I just…. I need some more time in the village to get settled before I…." Pulling her hands free Naruko moved her head so it was no longer touching Shikamaru's before looking him in the eyes for the first time willingly since she was pulled into the alleyway._

" _Maybe we should just try to focus on being friends again, and maybe in time I'll feel ready to try us again" Naruko gave Shika a small almost sad smile before she moved to leave. As she was turning to leave she felt Shikamaru grab her hand and turned her head to look at him again._

" _Ok, I'll try being your friend again if that's what you really want. But I just want to let you know that not going to give up on us easily, I'll show you that you can still trust me because I love you and I will always love you" Shikamaru said with a determined look in his eyes that you never find in the shadow ninja._

 _After Naruko had walked out of the alleyway, she didn't want to go to Ichiraku where the rest of her team would be till she had calmed down some so she made her way quickly back to their training field to think for a bit then have a nice spar with Sasuke then Kakashi to help clear her head when they got back._

 _But it didn't take long for the emotionally exhausted girl to fall asleep under a tree. Somewhere in the back of her mind as she slept she heard someone call her name then move her head onto something softer than the ground, but she didn't want to wake up and face the world just yet, so when those fingers started threading through her hair she settled back down and fell back into a deep sleep_

 _ **====================BEAKES ARE GOOD======================**_

Shikamaru was slowly walking home his hands in his pockets and his hand down, but a smile on his face. While that exchange didn't go exactly how he planned, at least now he knows that he has a chance to win his women back and this time he's determined to keep her.

When Shikamaru walked into the main room of his home both his parents were almost shocked at the look on his face, when he left this morning he looked sad and nervous and regretful, But now. Now there was a look of determination on his face and a spark in his eyes that they have never seen before in the now young man.

Shikamaru didn't stop to chat with his parents, he just walked past them and out to back. It had been a long day and he felt the need to lay in the forest with the deer and just do some cloud watching.

Giving a relaxed sigh Shikamaru let all the tension and worry he had been feeling for the past few years out, he was happy with how things went he knew it wasn't going to be easy to win back the trust of the blonde. Even though Naruko seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve she had always been very cautious about who she placed her full trust in, at the time they had started dating there were very few people she truly trusted even though she had so many friends. Shikamaru knew that she was like this from the start of their relationship, and it all came from how the village treated her when she was growing up. He took a long time of starting with friendship before she was ready to move onto something more and he ended up back where he started all because of some random girl that he might have met once or twice that he didn't know nor care about.

His thoughts were cut short as he felt his female teammates chakra approaching him. Without moving from his cloud gave spot he let out a sigh and addressed the other blonde female that he was close too.

"What are you doing here Ino?" Shikamaru's voice sounded like it always did and Ino could tell that he was truly relaxed for the first time in a long time.

"You seem happy today Shikamaru," Ino said sitting cross-legged next to him, even though he sounded normal Ino knew him well enough to hear that he was happy and relaxed at the moment.

All Shikamaru did was hum.

"Did you fix things with Naru?" Ino asked, she was only of the only other people to know what happened between the two before Naruko left, after she left Ino had noticed an immediate change in the shadow nin and had gone to talk to the two kunoichis that she knew would know what was going on between the once happy couple, because only some kind of fight with Naruko could get Shikamaru acting the way he had. There was no way it was just because she was out of the village. What she had learned had her storming into the lazy nins room very early in the morning demanding to know what really happened that night because there was no way Shikamaru cheated on the girl he loved so much.

"They're not perfect yet but it on the way to getting fixed. For now, she just wants to be friends right now, it's such a drag but I don't want to push her. I'm willing to wait as long as she needs to feel ready again" Shikamaru sighed pulling his hands from under his head and resting them on his abdomen

"Well, I'm not surprised that it would end like that. Naruko's always had very strong emotions, which means it probably really hurt her to see you kissing some other girl and on your anniversary! Seriously that girl had terrible timing, when she didn't know that the girl forced herself on you" Ino said, Ino had also matured and she was no longer chasing after Sasuke, she had instead chosen to set her sights on one pale ink using ninja named Sai and had already gotten further with him in the last two years than however many years she had been following Sasuke around like a lovesick puppy. Even if they weren't officially dating just yet.

When Shikamaru didn't respond to her she gave him a reassuring smile that he didn't see since he had closed his eyes, but she knew he knew that it was there, as she stood up to leave saying one last thing before walking out of the forest.

"Don't worry about it too much Shika, she'll forgive you and you guys will be back together soon. You're made for each other! So, I know you two will work it out, it may be troublesome but we both know you would never give up on her. You can be just as stubborn as she is sometimes" the platinum blonde said adding the last part right before she walked out of earshot of Shikamaru whose lip quirked up just a bit at the stubborn comment that he just barely heard.

Kakashi had just finished sparing with Sakura after Sai and Sasuke had finished with Sasuke as the winner, normally it would be that the winner would fight Kakashi but Sasuke just turned and walked over towards the two females of their group and sat next by Sakura and pulled Naruko's head into his lap instead, when the others gave him questioning looks he just rolled his eyes at them and told Sakura to go and spar with Kakashi some.

With one last questioning glance at the dark-haired brooder she stood up and decided to just drop it, there was no point when only Naru could understand Sasuke's grunts and looks enough to tell what he means.

Kakashi knew the best out of all of them how much Sasuke actually cared about Naruko as his sister and had missed her while she was away. No one could tell but he was pissed at whoever had made her cry and wanted to break their neck, but he had no clue who to be pissed at right now and needed the blonde girl too so he could ask without letting the others know how much he cared. Even though Naruko will see right through him, she always had.

As Sakura and Sai sat down next to Naruko's feet with Kakashi and Yamato standing just in front of them.

"When will we have a new mission Kakashi-Sensei?" Sakura asked as she cleaned a cut that Sai had gotten during his fight with Sasuke.

"Well, Lady Tsunade said that said that we could request one once we had a chance to do some team training sooo." Kakashi replayed with a shrug of his shoulders and a glance at the sleeping blonde on the ground, all eyes turned to the girl that had at some point curled herself into a little ball against Sasuke's side.

They were about to try and wake the girl when a shadow fell over the group and they all turned to look at the newcomer.

"Looks like someone had a long day" The voice was deep and before anyone could say anything the man had stepped over and lifted Naruko into his arms without waking her up.

"Master Jiraiya, may I ask where you might be taking her? She's needed here for training" Kakashi said, his tone was normal but with a bit of curiosity in it as the now identified sannin stood with Naruko still sound asleep in his arms her face looking more relaxed than before once she felt the white-haired sannins chakra around her.

"Sorry Kakashi, but Naruko will have to skip out on the team training today she's needed in Tsunade's office as of now," Jiraiya said with a grin on his face, adjusting his charge in his arms one last time before he started to walk away towards the Hokage tower.

"Well, I guess if she's being summoned by the Hokage then there's nothing we can do about it right now. Tell her that we'll have that spar I promised her another time" and with that Kakashi pulled out his orange book once again before telling the others that they were done training for the day and walked off, heading in the direction of the memorial stone.

Everyone else headed off in different directions as well Sakura decided to head for the hospital to see if they needed any help hoping that she could get an extra shift in for a few hours. Sasuke, a bit miffed that he didn't get the chance to fight the dobe started to head home to the Uchiha district and to the private Uchiha clan training ground. Sai walked into town hoping he would run into Ino by walking right by her family flower shop. While Yamato gave a sigh as he watched everyone walk away alone before heading to the mission's desk to see if there was anything small he could pick up to earn some money.


End file.
